Will the Nintendo Revolution Cost $99?

Believe it or not, IGN has managed to pry more information out of development sources for the Nintendo Revolution.

IGN writes: “We cannot stress this enough: Revolution is not being positioned as a competitor to either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Nintendo has instead chosen to design a console that will be very affordable for consumers. For that very reason, say developers in the know, the Big N has opted out of filling the system with a massive supply of expensive RAM.”
According to documentation released by developers, the Revolution will contain approximately 104MB of RAM (Compared to XBox 360’s 512).

As for the “Broadway” processor, IGN had this to say: “Exact clock rates were not disclosed, but one development source we spoke to had this to say of the Revolution CPU and GPU: “Basically, take a GameCube, double the clock rate of the CPU and GPU and you’re done.”

Shocked yet? Well, hang on – there’s more.

Revolution disks can store 4.7GB of data – single layer, or 8.5 – double layer (compared to 1.5 for the Gamecube).

Based on the data available here, all of the developers IGN talked to agreed that the Revolution should cost $150 or less. Some have argued that $99 would even be possible.

Wow. If all of this is true – and it most certainly is, I have to admit that I am more intrigued than ever. Some may be put off by the Revolution’s lack of power, but not me. Far from it actually.

Nintendo is banking on the uniqueness of their games – that much is obvious. And the controller is the driving force behind it all.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – Nintendo is the company to watch. While Microsoft and Sony pummel each other over the same demographic, Nintendo will have a huge market segment all to themselves. They are following the basic rule of a successful business – find your niche and come up with a good differentiation strategy.

A Revolution console for under $150? You had better believe that I will be in line for that.